Consumer interest in Kik and Viber explodes as BBM fades

It’s no surprise that the messaging app behemoth WhatsApp generates 95 times as much Google search volume as BlackBerry Messenger. But what’s pretty fascinating is that second-shelf apps like Kik and Viber also now generate 10 times more search interest than BBM. Whereas Kakao reigns as the supreme messaging app in Korea, LINE in Japan and WeChat in China, Kik and Viber are kind of puttering along, trying to steal slivers of market share in many regions. Yet despite the fact that these two B-listers are battling for the No.5 messaging app position at best, they have started generating massive search volume growth over the past year.